Megolith

Thanks for the advice.

The new condo is from a developer and they say they will take care of everything at Land Department. That's what happened last time, so I will not use a lawyer for that.

However for selling, I think I have to use a lawyer because I am not in Thailand so need a representative. In fact it was one lawyer I contacted who said I couldn't use the money from the sale to buy the next condo. That's why I wanted to check with TV. Some lawyers tell you what you can't do. And others help you find ways to do things. I like the second type.

Making people send money out of the country and bring it in again to get a new FET when they have all the sales and purchase records seems like a useless waste of money and a backwards way to regulate a property market.

I am planning to sell my Thai condo to a Thai person and using the money from the sale to buy a new one in a different location.

I have all the original FETs from bringing money into Thailand for the first condo. Enough FETs to cover the price of the new condo.

Do I still need to send money out of Thailand and then bring it back in to buy the second condo or will the original FETs still be valid at the Land Office.

If I need to send money out and bring it in again, what is the best way to do it without losing a lot on the exchange transactions?

Also, is there anything I need to be careful of in taking money out of the country and bringing it back in, e.g. not using the same bank account etc. Things that the bureaucrats will use to say "you have done something wrong". 

If the government was smart, it would allow visa runs again, and stop restricting people from coming in multiple times on Tourist visas.

This is the best way to increase tourist arrivals and prevent the economy from crashing. 

My guess, however, is that.........  there is a lack of intelligence at the top of the Thai government.

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That means if you are on a ovestay you cannot apply for the non immigrant visa. Not sure when they put it in there.

That makes sense. Thanks.

12 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

This reasoning would seem to apply (or could be applicable) for people on a retirement extension using 800k and who plan to switch to the income method for their next extension.

 

Some posters have opined that you could pull the 800 k out of the bank or at least let your balance fall below 400 k since you won't need it for your next extension.

 

The problem is that the 800 k for three months and 400 k for the rest of the year are conditions set for the extension you currently have using the money in the bank method.

 

Regardless of what you plan to do for your next extension , if your bank balance falls below the minimum for your current extension, the current extension would be cancelled and you would have put yourself on overstay

On the top of the Non-O visa application it says if you have overstayed you are not allowed to apply for a Non-O.

So then anyone whose extension is cancelled by their bank balance going below the limit would not be able to top up and apply again.

Wondered if anyone can confirm whether this is the case? And how long does immigration keep records of overstay?

Thanks

Thanks for the responses.  The second condo is a newly built one so still valid as an investment for the visa.

However, the IO mentioned that they had discussed my case in a meeting between the first and second time I went there (they sent me to get an additional document) and decided that I had invalidated the extension because I had changed assets. Even though the assets are still valid and meet the minimum requirement of 10M.

Her reasoning was that she had specified the bank account number with funds in my passport. And that if people changed their funds between assets, immigration would not be able to keep track of it.

I would be surprised if this is the intent of the policy. That people who got an investment visa could never change their assets or risk being deported/have to get a new passport. No-one would get an investment visa if that were the case.

It just seems like their interpretation of how to implement the law is very strict and to make their lives easier, but not fulfil the original aim of the policy to attract investment.

And I'm still not sure whether I need to get a new passport or not. She said I should but I'm not sure if she assumed I would come back within the period of the visa extension. In fact I won't come back until after the end date. 

Hi

For my non-B investment visa which I have extended for a few years now, I used to have B6M in a condo and B4M in a fixed term deposit account at Bangkok Bank to come to the required B10M investment. This year I use the B4M to buy another condo and still have more than B10M invested in Thailand.

At my latest extension attempt at CW, the IO told me that it was not permissible to change assets under a non-B investment visa because every year she had written the assets and amounts on the extension page of my passport. She said when I used the money from the fixed interest account for the new condo my extension was immediately invalid, that I was now on overstay and that she would write a report to the investigations team to have me detained and deported.

I argued with her a lot. That I still met the visa requirements for amount invested per the law. That whoever drafted the investment visa rules wanted to attract people to invest in Thailand and not have some petty bureaucrat interpret them in such a small minded illogical way. That most people with assets change them over time. And that the investment visa is useless if someone is going to get deported for moving money from one valid asset to another valid asset.

So she said in my case she wanted to help me. I should leave the country within 10 days, get a new passport so the old visa cannot be seen by the immigration official, come back on a visa exempt and apply for a new non-B based on the two condos instead of one condo plus savings. 

I have the following questions

- Would I really needs to get a new passport? If I wait until the old visa has expired, and come back on a visa exempt or tourist visa would it be a problem. Or would there be something in the immigration computer system about my current passport number?

- For people on a non-O retirement visa, if they go below B800,000/B400,000 in their account does the same thing happen... their extension is immediately invalid and they can be deported for being on overstay and have to go out get a new passport?

Thanks